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Websleuths News

On the latest edition of Websleuths Radio we tackle the Rebecca Zahau murder case and the big mistake made in the autopsy report of the Las Vegas shooter.
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The family and friends of murdered teenager Becky Watts today lined the streets of Bristol to bid farewell to the 16-year-old as her remains were carried through the city in a white, horse-drawn carriage.
Mourners tossed pink roses in the path of the funeral procession as it made its way towards St Ambrose Church in Whitehall where the teenager's family will gather.
It is the first time Becky's mother, Tania Watts, will come face to face with the woman whose son is accused of killing her daughter.
Anjie Galsworthy, who made numerous public appeals for her stepdaughter's safety after she went missing, lived with the teenager and her father

Avon and Somerset Police said new evidence led to Shauna Hoare, 21, being charged with the 16-year-old's murder....

The pair also face additional charges in relation to the case, including conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, preventing lawful burial and possession of a prohibited weapon.

They have also been charged with four counts of making indecent images of children, and Mr Matthews has been charged with sexual assault and voyeurism, in relation to other incidents not related to Becky.

Mr Matthews, from Warmley, also faces a fresh charge of perverting the course of justice.

“It is grossly unfair on the prosecution and defence to talk to anyone else about it for that reason. Those of you who are chosen as jurors, if you do carry out internet research you may be liable to imprisonment. Please do not be tempted to carry out any internet research on any matters concerning this case.”

Karl Demetrius, 29, and his girlfriend, Jaydene Parsons, 23, admitted at an earlier hearing at Bristol Crown Court to a charge of assisting an offender.
However, they maintain they "did not know or believe" the bags contained Becky's body.

Matthews 'graphically told Becky how he'd kill her in 2013'
Mr Mousley QC tells the court how Becky Watts had told a friend how stepbrother Nathan Matthews had told her in graphic detail how he planned to kill her two years before her death.

After his arrest Matthews told police he had taken two stun guns to Becky’s house in order to kidnap her and ‘teach her a lesson’ for being selfish and treating his mother badly.

But he told officers when she saw him after his mask slipped he strangled her. He claimed he then took her downstairs and into his car, where Shauna Hoare was waiting.

Becky's stepbrother Nathan Matthews and his girlfriend Shauna Hoare are charged with murder and will appear at Bristol Crown Court for the second day of evidence

Tragic: Becky Watts' dismembered body was found in a shed in March
Becky Watts' stepbrother and his girlfriend have returned to the dock at Bristol Crown Court today for the second day of her murder trial.

The tragic schoolgirl's body was found dismembered and wrapped up, hidden in suitcases and boxes on March 3 this year.

A former Territorial Army soldier equipped himself with a stun gun, handcuffs and mask before he and his girlfriend carried out the sexually motivated murder of his step-sister, the Bristol teenager Becky Watts, a jury has heard.

Nathan Matthews and his partner, Shauna Hoare, who are said to have shared an interest in petite teenage girls, later used a circular saw to dismember the 16-year-old’s body, the court was told.

Members of Becky’s family sobbed and one had to leave the courtroom as details were heard of how her body was found in a shed, some parts encased in layers of plastic and salt. There was gasps in court as it emerged that a postmortem examination found Becky had suffered 15 stab wounds to her abdomen after she died and she had also been struck in the neck with a screwdriver

The court in the case of two people accused of murdering Bristol teenager Becky Watts has been shown footage of an Airbus van that the prosecution alleges was used to transport her dismembered remains.

It was captured on CCTV being driven in the early hours of 24 February - the time it's alleged the teenager's remains were moved to a shed in Barton Hill where they were later found.

~~~

The house in Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol Credit: ITV News
A police officer who helped conduct a preliminary search of Matthews and Hoare's home has told the court how the bathroom was the only room in the house with a closed door.

Simon Wallis told the court: "The bathroom door was at the top of the stairs. The bathroom door was shut with a towel rolled up at the bottom of the door.

"I asked which this room was. He said it was the bathroom. It was the only door that was shut".

The previous witness - another officer in the search - had already described to the jury how the house was full of clutter, with a bad smell. Mr Wallis described how the bathroom was "cleaner than the rest of the house":
The bathroom window was open. The actual bath itself was clear. There was nothing on it or on the sides at all. However, on the floor of the bathroom there were bags.

The bath was clean.

– DC SIMON WALLIS
Mr Wallis also told the jury that the house gave him the impression that Matthews was a "hoarder". He allegedly told the witness that if he ever saw a item discarded on the street which he thought he could fix he would bring it home.
It was hard to envisage a family living comfortably at the address due to the volume of clutter scattered around the house.

Matthews admits killing Becky and dismembering her body in his bath - but he denies murder. Hoare denies all charges against her. The trial will resume on Monday.

Trial: Becky's stepbrother admits killing her but denies murder
A jury will hear a fourth day of prosecution evidence in the murder trial of schoolgirl Becky Watts.

Her stepbrother Nathan Matthews, 28, and his girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, deny murdering the 16-year-old in a "sexually motivated" plot.

Matthews admits manslaughter as well as perverting justice, preventing Becky's burial and possessing a prohibited weapon.

Hoare denies all five charges she faces including murder.

Donovan Demetrius, 29, and James Ireland, 23, each deny assisting an offender.

Hoare and Matthews "played Simpsons Monopoly"
The jury are continuing to hear Shauna Hoare’s first police interview seven days after Becky vanished.
Hoare giggled on several more occasions during the first hour of the interview.
She was talking about how she and Matthews were at Becky’s home on February 19.

The jury have heard Matthews told police in interview he went up upstairs wearing a mask and killed Becky in her bedroom.
Hoare told the jury how she fed a child Shreddies cereal while watching Cbeebies on TV at the house.
She said Becky’s step-mum Anjie - Matthews mum - returned to the house shortly after midday following a hospital appointment.
Hoare said: “Then we watched Neighbours”.
Hoare said she and Matthews left the house around 8pm to return to their own home.

The woman accused of murdering teenager Becky Watts did not see her on the day she was killed, a court has heard.
Shauna Hoare said she heard Becky "stomping down the stairs" and the front door slam at her home in Crown Hill, St George, Bristol.
Ms Hoare, 21, said she and her boyfriend, Becky's stepbrother, Nathan Matthews, 28, visited the house on 19 February - the day she disappeared.
Becky's body was later found cut into pieces. The pair deny murdering her.

The prosecution alleges Becky was killed in her bedroom at the family home in Crown Hill

The woman accused of murdering Becky Watts told police the teenager was good at manipulating people and was an attention seeker.
In a police interview played in court she said the 16-year-old "knew how to work people".

Earlier the jury visited the house in Bristol where it is alleged the teenager was killed by her stepbrother.
The ten women and two men spent 16 minutes inside the house at Crown Hill, in the St George area of the city.

Another housemate of James Ireland said he had a conversation with the accused in a pub, where he recounted what had happened.

Richard Whitton told the court Ireland believed he was moving items to do with a robbery, and thought he was getting around £5,000 for helping.
He said his friend just wanted some stuff moved, something to do with a robbery and they wanted some stuff moved.

He presumed it was a robbery because whoever it was thougt they were going to get raided.

It thought it was odd because you wouldn't get told if you were going to get raided. I thought it was a load of rubbish.

– RICHARD WHITTON
Mr Whitton told the court Ireland had said he had got into the work van and driven down to Barton Hill, where he "moved the stuff".
He just said it was from a robbery, he presumed it was worth about £20,000 and he was going to be getting £5,000 for it.

He had been told to just get rid of it.

– RICHARD WHITTON
But, Mr Whitton said, once he had handled the packages his opinion changed to thinking he may be moving drugs.

He said at one point Ireland gestured with his hands as to how big the packages had been, holding his hands about a foot apart.
He said the packages were soft, and we discussed it wouldn't be electrical stuff if they were soft. That's when the conversation turned to drugs.

He said they were tightly packaged.

– RICHARD WHITTON
Under cross examination Mr Whitton conceded that during the conversation, at the Miles public house, in Avonmouth, he believed it was "typical Jamie telling one of his stories" in an attempt "to impress" him.

He said he had been skeptical, and the conversation seemed "unreal" to him.